Category Archive: Warm Water Fish

If you had only this blog to know me by, you might perchance think i fell off the face of the earth, or at the very least somehow developed a waning interest in the sport of angling after the last post on dismal days wandering through northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Since returning from my ill fated (and far too early) trip of the Rockies i’ve taken up residence at Gruene Outfitters, a place i’ve longed to work at for over a decade. As a long time customer of the store it still feels strange to hang out there without having longtime employee Jacob hand me a beer and fill my ears with his jovial laughter and wonderful rambling stories. Fortunately the responsibility of dispensing stories and receiving them now falls squarely on my shoulders, something i’m more than willing to take on.

In order to give myself the most immersive education i can manage i’ve spent the last few weeks fishing as many spots, rods, leaders, flies, etc. as i can in an order to figure out what works, what doesn’t and what we simply need to have in the shop.

This has meant evenings on the Guadalupe with nymph rigs on 10′ 3 weights followed by passes with a 6WT and streamer flies longer than my finger in search of trout. It’s also been early mornings on the Guadalupe along Cypress Bend park with 2WT panfish flies followed by an 8WT and gar flies for said species.

In order to test sinking tips and sinking leaders i’ve wandered the endless dunes of the Llano near Kingsland in hopes of a late season white bass. After hours of fruitless casts and slowly losing hope i eventually made my way across the river and up the six foot sand bank where i was able to look down on a variety of warm water species sitting there, oblivious to the fact that an angler was surmising the circumstances. There were fish…oh man…there were fish…so many fish. Heading back down stream and wading slowly and quietly i set myself upstream so that the closer minnow could be worked low and deep across the deep gut that had formed along the bank.

Minutes later the 3WT jerked and bowed towards the water, indicating that some sort of peace had been made after many fruitless hours wandering the gravel bars. Lifting the rod to its apex and guiding the net down the length of the tippet i managed to coral the white bass into the translucent net where i stared at it in disbelief for what felt like hours. This late in the season it almost felt like a blessing from the Fishing Gods, some sort of late season token of appreciation for delving that much deeper both personally and professionally into the magical world that is fly fishing.

I couldn’t be happier than to be where i am, knee deep in fly fishing, the community it helps foster and the waters that always feel like home. Thank you, and there is so much more to come.

The winter never seemed to happen, the summer slowly dragging out unto itself. Here we were, knee deep into February and already the stocked trout seemed lethargic after endless 80˚ plus days. The heat not only slowed the fish down, it also meant that waders and boots could be left behind if you wished, this was not the winter trout fishing i’d become accustomed to. Add to that strangeness the fact that the flows off of Canyon Lake were suddenly being cranked up to four times their “new norm” of 300cfs (meaning they were above 1,200cfs) and the bass waters were starting to seem like good alternatives, despite being early in the season for these warm water fish.

The San Marcos

My first recent bass adventure was when i was headed down I-35 and suddenly realized that my wading boots (much needed footwear for the Guadalupe River) were still sitting in my back yard drying out. Equipped with nothing more than a rapidly deteriorating pair of Reef sandals, i decided to seize the last few hours of daylight by pulling off into the San Marcos area to wet wade with my 7’6″ 3WT, expecting to enchant a few sunfish to my fly, and nothing more.

With flows slightly higher than normal and many folks wading, paddling, and rope swinging into the pool i was desperately trying to work, my hope to catch a sunfish seemed like a best case scenario. After a few decent sunfish, i cast tight against the bank, stripped once or twice and felt my hook set into what i was sure was a downed log. After a few roll casts and tugs on my part to set the hook free, my line suddenly darted back and forth across the pool, with whitewater being kicked up left and right. Eventually the culprit, a healthy sized largemouth, came to hand seconds before i felt sure the tiny three weight would crack under pressure.

San Marcos largemouth.

A day later i took a cue from the budding Red Buds and headed out west to the Llano river in hopes of encountering the beginning of the annual white bass run. After slowly sifting my way across the seemingly endless sand i ended up near the junction of the Llano and Lake L.B.J (The Slab area). Although I’d been coming to this spot like clockwork for the last few years, the flows were higher than i was used to, making the deep pockets much less obvious and all but eliminating the sight casting i’d become used to in years previous.

After hours of wading, casting and cursing, i ended up on a familiar sandbar casting into a four foot deep bend working the Hill Country Clouser (from Sportsmans Finest) across the current with precious nothing to show for it. Confused i tried shuffling 15 feet above the pool and casting directly into the opposite bank, allowing the fly to sink enough that it allowed the fly to flow into the pool already scraping the bottom of the river, and just like that…BAM! Fish on!

I was so shocked at how well the minor adjustment worked that i spent the next three hours trying multiple variations on the theme, but unfortunately it seemed to be a one time deal, at least this time.

A few days later i met up with my good friend Nathan in south Austin, anxious to introduce him to some very fishy waters on Barton Creek that are easily accessible but seldom fished. Both of us recently purchased some tenkara rods from Tenkara Rod Co. and eagerly tucked them into our small daypacks before heading down into the heart of Barton Creek.

Making our way past the crowds casting tentative toes into the still cool waters, and the numerous dogs out walking their owners, we made our way to the special spot that i wanted to show Nathan. I was nervous, knowing it was still early for these waters, but still i hoped that we could somehow coax a fish or two out of the shadows just so my friend could see what these waters were capable of.

After a few casts into the shadows of a steep bank were met with little to no fanfare, a 2.5 pound bass (see title photo) visibly lunged out of the shadows, engulfed the wooly bugger and put such a bend in the Tenkara rod that i was convinced the rod tip was going to snap, although a passerby would be hard pressed to notice my concern since i was laughing maniacally. Needless to say, Nate now understands why i was hyping this spot up as much as i was, and i’m thankful to have a spot not only live up to, but exceed, the hype i built up around it.

Now is the time! The waters are coming alive and the fishing for bass will only get better over the next month, so do what you must, but get out there now and enjoy some of the best bass fishing of the year (on the flowing waters) before the heat sets in. They’re out there, and you should be too!

It wasn’t even midnight on my last day of work at Whole Earth Provision Co., the ink still wet on the day when the text from Winston came late in the evening,

“Want to fish tomorrow on the LCR?”

Winston is one of the most unique people i know, harnessing both a fiery intensity and endless curiosity to everything, seemingly all the time. Being a somewhat more laid back introvert its stimulating just to be in his presence where you can practically hear the hum radiating around him.

When he’s not saving lives as a paramedic north of Austin, he swaps the ambulance for a jet boat and buzzes clients up and down the Lower Colorado via All Water Guides here in Austin. Working along side some of the most knowledgeable guides on the water he’s got this water dialed.

Suffice to say, if you get a text from a friend like this on the first day of your month long vacation, asking if you want to sled up and down the Colorado, you’ll want to say “Yes.”

photo by Winston Cundiff

The only other time i’ve experienced a jet boat was once on the Deschutes while fishing for steelhead with my family, where we flew up some up amazing class three rapids, still one of the most thrilling things i’ve ever done. Here on the Colorado though i constantly found myself shaking my head (and bracing my feet) as we jetted up stretches of shallow waters that were barely two inches deep while traveling at warp speed. Adrenaline hit for sure.

Early in the day we ended up at a weir and cut the engine in order to start floating casually downstream while waiting for the other All Water Guides to show up with their Yeti ambassadors aboard. It didn’t take long to land a handsome white bass and just a few moments later a nice largemouth which immediately set our expectations much to high, as we’d find out later.

Hours of this perspective felt unreal.

To cut to the chase, the rest of the day was fruitless, with hundreds (?) of casts going unnoticed, or at the very least being ignored. Eventually we switched roles and i found myself on the sticks (oars for those not in the know) and constantly being coached on how to position the boat, work the current, and set the boat up moves ahead as though playing a chess game. In all honesty, being given the chance to row a boat that many in the scene refer to “The Most Bitching Boat in Austin” was an honor of far greater reward than any fat ass bass could provide.

Eventually the Yeti crew arrived with David Mangum and his crew in tow, but unfortunately, as mentioned, things had long since shut down. I wish the day had been more amazing, with 5 pound bass constantly being netted for our visiting ambasadors, but that wasn’t the case. Hopefully they each found something amazing about the experience to take home with them despite the difficult day. For me i just enjoyed catching up with a good friend, learning a new skill, and taking in the glory of the day.

Just one day into my time off and here i was lying across the bow of the boat, watching the ospreys circling high in the sky, soaking in the sun and humming a tune we all know…

I’m pretty sure we all have those peculiar waters that we simultaneously loathe and revere. For me one of those bodies of waters is the San Marcos, specifically the stretch between Martindale and Staples near the wonderful town of San Marcos.

If you’ve ever spent any time on the San Marcos, you know how magical it can be. It’s a spring fed river whose beginnings bubble up from Edwards Aquifer in downtown San Marcos and run for a mere four miles before joining up with the much more temperamental Blanco river.

If you could somehow take away the private houses and development that line its shores, appearing like teen age scrawls on a Van Gogh painting, it is truly timeless and sublime stretch of water. Rushing rapids are followed by braids of water covered by canopies of endless amounts of bald cypress along with many other plants and trees that call this river home. Long slow pools play hosts to a variety of turtles, egrets, herons, king fishers and the like, all of them hunting, stalking and subsisting on these luminous azure waters.

It was the same stretch that i had ventured on years ago with another good friend, and once again i felt the pull, the need to make the float and try to understand this river that seems to mystify me so.

My friend Nate and i put in at Highway 1979 after briefly leaving one of our vehicles down below at highway 1977 further downstream and then consuming some amazing local barbacoa tacos. As we made our way back to the starting point we experienced a small town traffic jam (above) that involved 20+ heads of cattle and an aging farmer that rightfully waved us down and indicated that he was more concerned about his cattle on the road, than us making our float trip in the allotted amount of time.

In a sign of the times (and not the best, i might add) it appears that “Put-In” and “Take-Out” areas that had existed just a few years ago are now a thing of the past. Water access at both our put-in and take-out were virtually non existent, an uncomfortablle trend I’ve noticed with every new “Bridge Development” that happens in this part of Texas (and i imagine the bigger picture.) Instead of pulling under the 1979 bridge, where there used to be access, we opted to pay and park at Spencer Canoes right across the river which provided at least an allusion of safety, all though there seemed to be nobody around (which makes sense since it is the off season.)

The focus of the trip was obviously to catch fish, and glancing around, every bend and braid seemed to be the logical holding spot for the biggest Guadalupe bass known to man, or at the very least, a small sunfish. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but once again i threw the kitchen sink (floating lines, sinking lines, massive streamers, micro poppers) and nothing seemed to be effective despite glancing all around and seeing waters that seemed to scream “FISH!”

After three hours of paddling and getting zero bites, we rounded a bend and i went through all the motions that i had for the last few hours, except, this time…there was a bite. Sure it was just a sunfish (above) , but it was a relentless little bastard that easily fooled me into thinking i had a three pound bass on the other end of the line. Within the next handful of casts two more equally sized sunfish came to hand for me while Nate was also landing serious sunfish.

Then, as quickly as it started, it likewise came to a definitive stop with nary a bite seen again. Realizing we were just a little more than halfway through the float we ushered our crafts onto a gravel bar and broke out the wine, meats and cheeses. Leaning back on my camp chair (which doubles as my seat on the Versa Board) with the wind suddenly picking up drastically, i watched the clouds start to hustle, scurry, and meld into each other in a hurried and very un-cloud like way.

Knowing how far we had to go, and noticing that the wind was shooting straight upstream at about 30MPH and aware that we had hours of paddling to go, i sipped down some Pinot Grigio, turned to Nate and mentioned that this was a lousy fishing trip, but a wonderful paddle.

The shock to my system wasn’t so much that i said it, but that i REALLY and TRULY meant it.

Despite the fish, i was truly happy, likely because of friendship, clear water, blue skies, cheese, salami, wine and good conversation. Just goes to show that sometimes it’s not even about the fish.

Barton Creek at Lost Creek

Pedernales River at Johnson City

Colorado River at Bastrop

Guadalupe River at Sattler

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Die Fische is a fly fishing blog based out of Austin, Texas. We love exploring our city, the Hill Country, Central Texas and beyond and sharing those adventures with you.
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